Tim Mapes, a key member of former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s inner circle for years, faces perjury charges stemming from his grand jury appearance.

Mapes was assured he would not be charged as long as he told the truth to a federal grand jury. But he allegedly blew it.

According to prosecutors, Mapes lied repeatedly in his March 31, 2021, grand jury testimony in an ill-fated attempt to protect his longtime boss, claiming he couldn’t recall anything relevant about Madigan’s relationship with Michael McClain, the speaker’s longtime confidant at the center of the probe.

McClain was also convicted in a related case in May on bribery conspiracy charges involving a scheme by utility giant Commonwealth Edison to win the speaker’s influence over legislation in Springfield.

[ ‘ComEd Four’ bribery trial: What you need to know ]

Follow our writers — Megan Crepeau and Ray Long — for the latest news and see coverage throughout the trial below.

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday began playing the audio of Tim Mapes’ 2021 testimony before a federal grand jury in which he allegedly lied to protect his longtime boss, the once powerful Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.

The playing of Mapes’ testimony is offering a rare public glimpse into normally secret grand jury proceedings, not only lifting the veil on some of the ways large-scale investigations proceed but also providing some of the cat-and-mouse that goes on between prosecutors and witnesses. Read more here.

Former House Speaker Michael Madigan has long been known as “The Velvet Hammer” for the way he quietly wielded power.

But in a federal courtroom Monday, the man once considered Illinois’ most powerful politician may have been given a new moniker:

Don Madigan. Read more here.

In his heyday, Tim Mapes, diminutive but domineering, was feared in Springfield.

He threatened staffers’ jobs and screamed orders on the House floor in his capacity as powerhouse Democrat Michael Madigan’s trusted lieutenant.

Formal investigations all but called Mapes’ conduct dictatorial. But you’d never guess that by looking at Mapes last week, sitting meekly and respectfully between his two lawyers in the solemn setting of a federal courtroom.

He is a little balder, a little grayer these days. His demeanor at the defense table is painstakingly placid.

But federal charges accuse him of doing in the grand jury what he did without penalty for decades in Springfield: shielding the boss, Madigan of Chicago. Read more here.

Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, was on the witness stand Thursday for the second time this year in one of the sweeping federal cases tied to Madigan and his Democratic allies.

Asked on Thursday to describe the former power structure at the top of the Illinois House, Rita drew a triangle in the air above him.

At the highest point, he said, was Michael Madigan. Then, moving his hands to the lower corners of the triangle, on either side were Madigan’s chief of staff Tim Mapes — the gatekeeper — and Madigan’s confidant, powerhouse lobbyist Michael McClain. Read more here.

In the opening statement to jurors Wednesday, a federal prosecutor ripped into Tim Mapes, ousted chief of staff of former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, calling him a deliberate liar who misled a grand jury to “protect the boss.”

The Mapes defense team countered that the former insider, long at the center of power in Springfield, simply could not remember the details about key questions prosecutors asked him and that he “did his level best” to give full and honest answers. Read more here.

Opening statements in the perjury trial of Democratic insider Tim Mapes are finally set to begin Wednesday, when prosecutors are expected to outline allegations that he lied to a federal grand jury to protect his powerful former boss, ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Jurors were chosen Tuesday afternoon after a longer-than-expected selection process. U.S. District Judge John Kness originally had expressed hopes that attorneys could present their opening remarks as early as Monday.

In all, 56 prospective jurors were interviewed before the final 12 were chosen along with three alternates. The trial is expected to last up to three weeks.

The jury includes an ultrasound technician, a meteorologist for a local TV station and a man who volunteered to pass out campaign signs for Chicago mayoral candidate Paul Vallas. Read more here.

The federal perjury trial of former Springfield insider Tim Mapes was bound to highlight the tight-knit nature of Illinois politics and the fierce opinions it engenders.

That became clear even during jury selection: One prospective juror said he is close friends with a former state representative. Two worked for AT&T, a company caught up in the widespread corruption scandal related to powerful former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Then there was the potential juror who wrote in her questionnaire that Madigan, Mapes’ ex-boss, could not be trusted.

Further, she wrote, she hopes Madigan “and all his friends go to jail.”

She was dismissed shortly afterward.

In all, 22 people made it past the first round of cuts Monday as prosecutors and defense lawyers sifted through the potential jurors. The process is slated to continue Tuesday morning. Opening statements are expected to begin after attorneys have selected 12 jurors along with alternates. Read more here.

His trial is being closely watched by many Illinois power brokers, from Michael Madigan-connected lobbyists to current and former legislators who for years were beholden to Tim Mapes due to his unique access to the speaker and his Democratic political spoils. Read more here.

Tim Mapes, former chief of staff to ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan, was captured on dozens of undercover FBI recordings talking about his family, political fundraising and whether landing some job following his ouster in a 2018 sexual harassment scandal might “piss off the women.”

The conversations, described in a defense motion filed over the weekend seeking to keep them out of Mapes’ perjury trial next month, shed new light on the behind-the-scenes maneuvering and relationships among key members of Madigan’s inner circle as a series of scandals began to threaten the Democratic speaker’s decadeslong grip on power. Read more here.

Originally Published: Aug 09, 2023 at 12:04 pm